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Following up on the reference to the Binding of Isaac in Genesis 22 (the Akkedah in rabbinic thought), see Shalom Spiegel's "The Last Trial." It is an excellent literary and theological study of this in Jewish thought, culminating with the Crusade massacres in Mainz 1096. It has gone through several reprintings. Dan Joslyn-Siemiatkoski >===== Original Message From Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture <[log in to unmask]> ===== >In a message dated 1/10/01 2:22:14 PM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] >writes: > >> I need to find >> imformation that may illuminate some of the history and psychology of the >> use >> of children as sacrifice. What I am looking for (finally - the point) is >> sources pertaining to (1) child martyrs, (2) accusations of ritual torture >> and murder of children leveled agains the early Chrisitians, and (3) any >> information on how medieval Jews viewed childhood and their children. > >You might want to start with some of the many Old Testament allusions to >child sacrifice to Moloch (by throwing the children into a fire), as in the >following. > >"When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou >shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall >not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass >through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an >enchanter, or a witch," (Deu 18:9-10) > >The moral of the story of Abraham and Isaac might arguably be that the God of >the Hebrews doesn't demand sacrifice of one's child...though it's usually >interpreted more generally, as an assertion about the sacrifice of either >children or adults. I don't recall Biblical references to the sacrifice of >adults, though there are many references to child sacrifice similar to the >above. > >pat sloane > >For my books and papers on T. S. Eliot, see >http://hometown.aol.com/patsloane/myhomepageindex.h Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski 1216 Commonwealth Ave #11 Allston, MA 02134